Grade 03: Arabic

In this unit, 'Reading simple passages', you learn to read and answer questions on a short text. Lessons are short and playful, with objects, pictures and talk. You see it, say it, then do it alone.

• Listen first: your teacher or a recording says the new words or sentences from 'Reading simple passages' twice. You repeat them aloud.
• Notice the pattern: find where the new sound, word form or sentence rule appears in a short text and mark it.
• Use it: read and answer questions on a short text, first with help, then alone.
• Check and fix: read your work aloud once more; fix one thing you hear is wrong.

Step by step.

1. Step 1, Read this short passage I wrote. أَنَا أُحِبُّ الْمَدْرَسَةَ. فِي صَفِّي عِشْرُونَ طَالِبًا. مُعَلِّمَتِي تَقْرَأُ لَنَا قِصَّةً كُلَّ يَوْمٍ. [I love school. In my class there are twenty students. My teacher reads us a story every day.] Read it twice, then underline the numbers.
2. Step 2, Find the key words. الْمَدْرَسَةُ [school], صَفٌّ [class], طَالِبٌ [student], قِصَّةٌ [story], كُلَّ يَوْمٍ [every day]. Say what each sentence is about before answering. The first is about liking school, the second about the class, the third about the story.
3. Step 3, Answer questions with a full sentence. كَمْ طَالِبًا فِي الصَّفِّ؟ [How many students are in the class?] فِي الصَّفِّ عِشْرُونَ طَالِبًا. [In the class there are twenty students.] مَاذَا تَقْرَأُ الْمُعَلِّمَةُ؟ [What does the teacher read?] تَقْرَأُ قِصَّةً. [She reads a story.]
4. Step 4, Ask a when-question. مَتَى تَقْرَأُ الْمُعَلِّمَةُ الْقِصَّةَ؟ [When does the teacher read the story?] تَقْرَأُهَا كُلَّ يَوْمٍ. [She reads it every day.] Notice how the answer repeats words from the text, which proves you found it in the passage.
5. Step 5, Fix an error. A student answers the question كَمْ طَالِبًا فِي الصَّفِّ؟ with the single word كَثِيرٌ [many]. Correction: go back to the text; the number is عِشْرُونَ, so the full answer is عِشْرُونَ طَالِبًا. Guessing is not reading.
6. Step 6, Your turn: answer who reads us a story and where is the class. Model answer: مُعَلِّمَتِي تَقْرَأُ لَنَا قِصَّةً. [My teacher reads us a story.] صَفِّي فِي الْمَدْرَسَةِ. [My class is at school.] Check you copied the spelling.

Activity. About 20 to 30 minutes of class work, then one short practice task for home. Keep evidence: one page in your learning book.

Standard to meet. Read and answer questions on a short text: at least 4 of 5 attempts correct, said or written, with one real example from home or school.

In this unit, 'Nouns and verbs', you learn to tell nouns from verbs and use them in sentences. Lessons are short and playful, with objects, pictures and talk. You see it, say it, then do it alone.

• Listen first: your teacher or a recording says the new words or sentences from 'Nouns and verbs' twice. You repeat them aloud.
• Notice the pattern: find where the new sound, word form or sentence rule appears in a short text and mark it.
• Use it: tell nouns from verbs and use them in sentences, first with help, then alone.
• Check and fix: read your work aloud once more; fix one thing you hear is wrong.

Step by step.

1. Step 1, Know what a noun is. الِاسْمُ [the noun] names a person, thing or place: وَلَدٌ [boy], كِتَابٌ [book], مَدْرَسَةٌ [school]. A quick test: you can put الْ before a noun, as in الْكِتَابُ [the book]. Collect five nouns from your bag.
2. Step 2, Know what a verb is. الْفِعْلُ [the verb] shows an action. Past: كَتَبَ [he wrote], ذَهَبَ [he went], جَلَسَ [he sat]. Present: يَكْتُبُ [he writes], يَذْهَبُ [he goes], يَجْلِسُ [he sits]. You cannot say الْ before a verb.
3. Step 3, Put them together. الْوَلَدُ يَقْرَأُ الْكِتَابَ. [The boy reads the book.] ذَهَبَتِ الْبِنْتُ إِلَى الْمَدْرَسَةِ. [The girl went to school.] In the first sentence الْوَلَدُ and الْكِتَابَ are nouns and يَقْرَأُ is the verb.
4. Step 4, Sort a list. قَلَمٌ، يَرْسُمُ، بِنْتٌ، أَكَلَ، شَجَرَةٌ. [pen, he draws, girl, he ate, tree] Nouns: قَلَمٌ، بِنْتٌ، شَجَرَةٌ. Verbs: يَرْسُمُ، أَكَلَ. Each noun can take الْ; the verbs cannot.
5. Step 5, Fix an error. A child labels يَلْعَبُ [he plays] as a noun. Correction: it is a verb, because it shows an action and الْيَلْعَبُ is impossible. Another error is calling كُرَةٌ [ball] a verb; كُرَةٌ names a thing, so it is a noun.
6. Step 6, Your turn: write a sentence with the noun بِنْتٌ and the verb تَرْسُمُ [she draws], then name noun and verb. Model answer: الْبِنْتُ تَرْسُمُ شَجَرَةً. [The girl draws a tree.] Nouns: الْبِنْتُ، شَجَرَةً. Verb: تَرْسُمُ.

Activity. About 20 to 30 minutes of class work, then one short practice task for home. Keep evidence: one page in your learning book.

Standard to meet. Tell nouns from verbs and use them in sentences: at least 4 of 5 attempts correct, said or written, with one real example from home or school.

In this unit, 'Daily life and the beach', you learn to describe a day and a trip. Lessons are short and playful, with objects, pictures and talk. You see it, say it, then do it alone.

• Listen first: your teacher or a recording says the new words or sentences from 'Daily life and the beach' twice. You repeat them aloud.
• Notice the pattern: find where the new sound, word form or sentence rule appears in a short text and mark it.
• Use it: describe a day and a trip, first with help, then alone.
• Check and fix: read your work aloud once more; fix one thing you hear is wrong.

Step by step.

1. Step 1, Describe your morning in the present. أَسْتَيْقِظُ فِي السَّاعَةِ السَّابِعَةِ. [I wake up at seven o'clock.] أَغْسِلُ وَجْهِي. [I wash my face.] أَتَنَاوَلُ الْفُطُورَ. [I have breakfast.] أَذْهَبُ إِلَى الْمَدْرَسَةِ. [I go to school.] Say them in order.
2. Step 2, Describe the rest of the day. أَعُودُ إِلَى الْبَيْتِ. [I return home.] أَكْتُبُ وَاجِبِي. [I do my homework.] أَلْعَبُ مَعَ أَخِي. [I play with my brother.] أَنَامُ فِي السَّاعَةِ التَّاسِعَةِ. [I sleep at nine o'clock.]
3. Step 3, Describe a trip to the beach in the past. ذَهَبْنَا إِلَى الشَّاطِئِ. [We went to the beach.] لَعِبْتُ بِالرَّمْلِ. [I played with the sand.] سَبَحَ أَخِي فِي الْبَحْرِ. [My brother swam in the sea.] كَانَ الْجَوُّ جَمِيلًا. [The weather was beautiful.]
4. Step 4, Compare present and past. الْيَوْمَ أَذْهَبُ إِلَى الْمَدْرَسَةِ. [Today I go to school.] أَمْسِ ذَهَبْتُ إِلَى الشَّاطِئِ. [Yesterday I went to the beach.] The present verb begins with أَ for I; the past verb ends with تُ for I.
5. Step 5, Fix an error. A child says أَمْسِ أَذْهَبُ إِلَى الشَّاطِئِ. Correction: أَمْسِ [yesterday] needs the past, so say أَمْسِ ذَهَبْتُ إِلَى الشَّاطِئِ. Match the time word with the right verb form every time.
6. Step 6, Your turn: write about your morning and yesterday's trip, one sentence each. Model answer: أَسْتَيْقِظُ مُبَكِّرًا وَأَذْهَبُ إِلَى الْمَدْرَسَةِ. أَمْسِ ذَهَبْنَا إِلَى الشَّاطِئِ وَلَعِبْتُ بِالرَّمْلِ. [I wake up early and go to school. Yesterday we went to the beach and I played in the sand.]

Activity. About 20 to 30 minutes of class work, then one short practice task for home. Keep evidence: one page in your learning book.

Standard to meet. Describe a day and a trip: at least 4 of 5 attempts correct, said or written, with one real example from home or school.

In this unit, 'Writing short sentences', you learn to write three connected sentences. Lessons are short and playful, with objects, pictures and talk. You see it, say it, then do it alone.

• Listen first: your teacher or a recording says the new words or sentences from 'Writing short sentences' twice. You repeat them aloud.
• Notice the pattern: find where the new sound, word form or sentence rule appears in a short text and mark it.
• Use it: write three connected sentences, first with help, then alone.
• Check and fix: read your work aloud once more; fix one thing you hear is wrong.

Step by step.

1. Step 1, A good short text has three connected sentences: what, then what, and why or how I felt. Plan before you write. Topic: a visit to the park. Sentence one says where, sentence two says what you did, sentence three says how you felt.
2. Step 2, Write sentence one. ذَهَبْتُ إِلَى الْحَدِيقَةِ مَعَ أُسْرَتِي. [I went to the park with my family.] Begin with a clear verb and add a place. Put a full stop at the end of the sentence.
3. Step 3, Write sentence two with a linking word. ثُمَّ لَعِبْتُ مَعَ صَدِيقِي بِالْكُرَةِ. [Then I played with my friend with the ball.] ثُمَّ means then. Other linking words are وَ [and] and بَعْدَ ذَلِكَ [after that].
4. Step 4, Write sentence three with a reason. كُنْتُ سَعِيدًا لِأَنَّ الْجَوَّ كَانَ جَمِيلًا. [I was happy because the weather was beautiful.] لِأَنَّ means because. Now read all three together: ذَهَبْتُ... ثُمَّ... كُنْتُ سَعِيدًا...
5. Step 5, Fix an error. A child writes ذَهَبْتُ الْحَدِيقَةِ لَعِبْتُ سَعِيدًا. Correction: add إِلَى [to], a linking word and a reason, so the text reads clearly: ذَهَبْتُ إِلَى الْحَدِيقَةِ. ثُمَّ لَعِبْتُ. كُنْتُ سَعِيدًا لِأَنَّ الْجَوَّ جَمِيلٌ.
6. Step 6, Your turn: write three connected sentences about a trip to the market. Model answer: ذَهَبْتُ إِلَى السُّوقِ مَعَ أُمِّي. ثُمَّ اشْتَرَيْنَا الْفَاكِهَةَ. كُنْتُ سَعِيدًا لِأَنِّي أُحِبُّ التُّفَّاحَ. [I went to the market with my mother. Then we bought fruit. I was happy because I love apples.]

Activity. About 20 to 30 minutes of class work, then one short practice task for home. Keep evidence: one page in your learning book.

Standard to meet. Write three connected sentences: at least 4 of 5 attempts correct, said or written, with one real example from home or school.

On the slide: L1 Basic · First sounds and greetings

Notes: Say hello, give your name and name three everyday objects in Arabic. Notes: teach مرحبا (marhaba, hello) and كتاب (kitab, book) aloud before any writing; learners greet a partner and point to a book, a pen and a door while saying each word.

On the slide: L2 Awareness · Letters and the right-to-left page

Notes: Recognise that Arabic is written right to left and copy the shapes of the first eight letters. Notes: show that letters change form at the start, middle and end of a word; learners trace the letter for b, then find it in three printed words.

This course: Grade 03 Arabic is at this level. Its units include Reading simple passages; Nouns and verbs; Daily life and the beach; Writing short sentences.

On the slide: L3 Foundation · Simple sentences and a first reading

Notes: Read and write short present-tense sentences about yourself, family and daily life with short vowels marked. Notes: use هذا كتاب (hadha kitab, this is a book) as the model; learners build five new sentences, swapping the noun each time, and read them aloud.

On the slide: L4 Practitioner · Everyday conversation and roots

Notes: Hold a two-minute conversation on school, food and travel and use the three-letter root idea to guess new words. Notes: show k-t-b giving kitab (book) and katib (writer); learners find the root in four given words, then order a meal in a role-play.

On the slide: L5 Specialist · Formal Arabic and dialect awareness

Notes: Compare Modern Standard Arabic with one spoken dialect and write a formal letter of about 150 words. Notes: take one phrase, such as how to say 'how are you', in both registers; learners list three differences and choose the right register for a news item and a chat.

On the slide: L6 Advanced · Literary analysis and linguistics

Notes: Analyse a classical or modern text for grammar, rhetoric and register, and write a reasoned essay in Arabic. Notes: choose a short poem of eight lines; learners mark case endings, name one image used, and explain in a 400-word essay how the form supports the meaning.

On the slide: L7 Super expert · Translation, research and teaching

Notes: Design and defend a translation or research project that handles dialect variation, with a documented method. Notes: pick a 500-word article and translate it for two audiences; justify every choice about register, note untranslatable terms, and have a native reader check the result.